Sunday, 18 January 2015

The 30 Day Challenge: Day 26, Cutting The Apron Strings

Let's admit it, most of what we know about this country were told to us by our parents. Oral tradition as a means of preserving culture and history is still alive and well. Sadly, it also implies that what we know as history is actually their version or recollection of the situation. Asides their version are two other sides - the flip side and the truth. In the absence of the truth, it becomes important to search for the flip side of the story. This is how we can achieve balance. Most of us never get beyond this point.

One thing we must take into consideration is the environment in which our parents grew - colonial, turbulent and unstable. Living under British rule, the fight for independence, one coup after another, the civil war etc. Their history is coloured by how good or bad the experience was for them and they have managed to pass down the bias, misconception, lies, half-truths and blatant tribalism to us, and we are quite frankly too lazy to discover history for ourselves.

My sister told me when I was little that dinosaurs live under the ground and we experience earthquakes when they move. For me then, she might as well have come down from a mountain with two smoking tablets. I could die defending what she said. If I hadn't watched Encarta videos and educated myself, I would have gone about town, displaying my idiocy; wondering what is wrong with the world while the world wonders what is wrong with me.

CALL TO ACTION

What were the things you were told while growing up that have shaped your belief system?

Did you ever question them?

If you didn't, how do you know they are true?

If you don't know they are true, then maybe it's time to see the world through new, fresh, untainted eyes...